GoFirst's airport slots may go to others soon

Bankrupt Go First's valuable slots could soon be reallocated among airlines such as IndiGo, Air India and Akasa Air to ease congestion at the country's top airports as demand for air travel continues to rise.

- Dhirendra Kumar & Manas Pimpalkhare

The Centre plans to set up a committee to redistribute these slots in a transparent manner, allowing other carriers to efficiently manage their operations on congested routes and airports, said two people aware of the development on the condition of anonymity.

"...it gives a chance to other airlines, even regional ones, to strengthen their operations," said one of the senior government officials cited above on the condition of anonymity.

Go First had 330 daily flights across 36 destinations before it suspended operations in May 2023 due to financial difficulties. The airline's network included 27 domestic and nine international destinations.

Airport slots, granting a carrier the permission to use the necessary infrastructure to operate flights, are valuable in the world's third-largest aviation market-after the US and China as a growing economy has increased demand for air travel.